Archive for the ‘running’ Category

Ran to Kentucky and back

May 4th, 2010

This past weekend was the 12th annual Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I got to be a part of it by participating in the half-marathon. It was definitely exciting to see how far I could go, and leading up to the race, wondering if it would be canceled due to lightening. Fortunately it proceeded with no delay, and our 3:30am wake up call to drive down there was not in vain.

Even though I didn’t train as well as I would have liked, I am pleased with how things went. I had to walk a lot after the hill due to my ankle, but I didn’t feel tired or have any cramps. I need to focus on strengthening my ankle more before the marathon in September, but I am not intimidated by the 26.2 miles that are to come.  Here are some photos from the day:

Getting ready to go

Almost to the end

Drenched but done

Steve & April

I want to thank my fabulous running partners for going through this with me, and I can’t wait to cross the finish line for the marathon with you two! I also want to thank my mom and Steve for getting up at 3:30am to support me.  A HUGE thank you to Drysdale & Associates which sponsored us for the race. I also want to express my sincere thoughts to those in Tennessee who are dealing with the flooding from this past weekend. My thoughts are with all of you.

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Goals for the Year 2010

January 2nd, 2010

I normally don’t do resolutions, but I do always  have goals for the year or things that I intend to complete. So here they are in all their glory, and I organized them by my most popular topics.

SCHOOL:

  1. Register, Take, and Pass the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam
  2. Get through Winter Quarter
  3. Get through Spring Quarter
  4. Do all the required hoop jumping, and successfully GRADUATE in June!
  5. Find sweet job between now and graduation.

HOUSE:

  1. Finish the bedroom: paint ceiling, add flooring, finish drywall, add crown molding
  2. Make utility room more functional: get other dryer working, add wall, close in dryer & washer, add storage
  3. Finish bathroom: find-purchase-install flooring, paint, add tile (remove junk that’s there now)
  4. Build porch swing for side porch
  5. Fence: move fence back, paint fence, add in front flower bed, install privacy fence where  needed
  6. Vegetable Garden: remove gravel, add “good” soil, plant
  7. Detached Garage: power wash, seal, paint, install flooring, add fridge & stove, put up for rent
  8. House warming party in March!!

BUSINESS:

  1. Do more on foot marketing at local businesses
  2. Promote, promote, promote
  3. Get website up and running tomorrow (woohoo!)

OTHER GOALS:

  1. Run Half-Marathon
  2. Run Marathon
  3. Go to Gatlinburg, TN for the first time for vacation with Steve and camp-depends on the season haha
  4. Go on a cruise/long vacation
  5. Learn to sew

Whew! That about covers it. I think all are reasonable, and they’re all things I was planning to do since about November.

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Posted in Business, Engineering, House, Sewing, running

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I’m a convert.

July 30th, 2009

So when I would run in the past, I would get all excited and say “This time will be different!” My plan was always grand, and I always knew that this time (yes, this time) I would keep it going. So when I started out training for this 10K I did not think that. I had low expectations for myself. I figured why would this time be any different than last time.

Well, I’ll tell you two things that have made this time different. One is my running partner, Cara. Once she’s on her way to my place, I know there’s no turning back, and we are running that day. The second difference is that I converted to being a morning runner.

For those who know me from when I’d run before, I don’t do morning runs. I despise getting up early, and I just thoroughly hate it. I’m not a morning person. I’m grumpy, and the thought of leaving my warm, comfy bed is absolutely horrific.

Please view reason number 1 as why I was required to convert to a morning runner. Cara works early and has to be at home by 7/7:30am in order to get ready for work, so this requires that we get up at 5:30am (5:50am for me since I can roll out of bed and be ready) in order to run at 6:00am. Let me repeat, SIX IN THE FREAKIN’ MORNING.

We have an unspoken agreement that requires no long sentences or heavy thought processes that early. We grunt at each other as a morning greeting and go on our very merry (and extremely grumpy) way to our run, and it’s been the best training experience so far.

Today we ran at night, and while the run was great, I LOVE running in the morning. It gets you going for the day, and you don’t have to stress or think all day long how you “still have to run” that night. So even though tomorrow I’ll be running alone, I’m getting up at 6am to do so.

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Me versus the Pavement

July 21st, 2009

Exercising. I have a love/hate relationship with it. To be honest, I do enough during my daily activities to not have to cut out exercise time specifically. Between dancing with my friend, Nicole, walks with my friend, Cara, cleaning and organizing my mom’s basement and garage (more to come on that later), and just general cleaning the apartment-I have been pretty exhausted physically lately.

However, endorphins really are the bomb, and running is such a stress relief for me. It allows me time with my thoughts, and once I’ve gotten over the initial hump of getting into it again, I can zone out and suddenly I’m finished with my run. I’m also fairly competitive, and nothing beats competing mentally with yourself.

The US Air Force Marathon is held annually in Dayton, Ohio, and I decided to participate in the 5k portion this year. I’ve been procrastinating on preparing for that with the idea that,

“Well if I don’t train it’s only 3 miles, and I could walk that if I absolutely have to.”

Insert sponsorship for the race and suddenly it’s a whole new ballgame. When a company can sponsor you for a 10K, you suddenly have to get your head in the game. So I decided to upgrade to the 10k (which is about 6.2 miles), and actually start training for it. Yes, I could walk the entire 6 miles, but I really don’t want to. Plus I now have a running buddy, and that already makes me more accountable than before. So I have added a little blurb in the right hand column to keep me even more focused.

Training starts today…Go!

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